It contains unique material on ancient Armenian legends, and such information on pagan (pre-Christian) Armenian as has survived. It also contains plentiful data on the history and culture of contiguous countries. The book had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography.
In the text, the author self-identifies as a disciple of Saint Mesrop, and states that he composed his work at the request of Isaac (Sahak), the Bagratuni prince who fell in battle in 482.

Contents

Until the 19th century most scholars accepted Movses's History as an authentic script. For example, Gibbon in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (ch. 32) still accepted the 5th century date of Movses, on grounds that "his local information, his passions and his prejudices, are strongly expressive of a native and contemporary."[1]

Alfred von Gutschmid (1876) showed the secondary nature of much of Moses' material, and current scholarship is divided on the issue of Moses' authorship of the work. According to Robert Thomson, "there are indications that the book itself was written after the 5th century. Not only does Movses use sources not available in Armenia at that time, he refers to persons and places attested only in the sixth or seventh centuries."[2]It is now thought that the current version we have could not have been written in the 5th century [1][3]

"Genealogy of Armenia Major", encompassing the history of Armenia from the beginning down to Alexander the Great;

"History of the middle period of our ancestors", extending from Alexander to the death of Gregory the Illuminator and the reign of King Terdat (330);

the third part brings the history down to the overthrow of the Arshakuni Dynasty (428); and

the fourth part brings the history down to the time of the Emperor Zeno (474-491), during this time there were three wars: a. the Armenian Independence War headed by Vasak Syuni (450), b. the civilian war between Vardan Mamikonyan and Vasak Syuni (autumn of 450 - May 451), inspired by Romans, Persians and Armenian clergy, c. the 2nd independence war headed by Sahak Bagratuni (who ordered Movses Khorenatsi to write the "history of Armenia") and then by Vahan Mamikonyan (after the death of Sahak Bagratuni in 482).

These gradually enter historicity with Tigran I (6th century BC), who is also mentioned in the Cyropaedia of Xenophon (Tigranes Orontid, traditionally 560-535 BC; Vahagn 530-515 BC), but Aravan to Vahé are again otherwise unknown.